Dysfunctional Cultures and the Making of Homo Economicus: Expert Personas and Liberal Consent in Austerity Regimes

Communications. Media. Design. 2019. Vol. 4. No. 1. P. 32–61.

From the very beginning of the 2010 debt crisis, a significant part of the liberal intelligentsia and social activists of Greece have been discussing which explanatory model is most suitable for the concept of “national identity”, in which they saw the root of all problems. They presented the crisis as an opportunity for the Greeks in the process of implementing austerity policies to take a fresh look at themselves and form a more “pro-Western” and market-oriented appearance. In this regard, the crisis is seen as the result of “incorrect cultural attitudes,” which can now be corrected. This article focuses on the fact that media personalities, such as intellectuals and marketing gurus, who are conditionally out of politics, popularized this explanatory model, which was especially active in the period from 2010 to 2012. We guess,

Ключевые слова: Greece, governmentality, national identity, economic crisis